Daze
by harvestlight441
Summary: Armin x Dovah (OC). Armin just wanted to read in peace. So did Dovah. But those two don't usually get along. What could happen? Request for CaptainExe I don't own Attack on Titan, Armin Arlert, or Dovah Ackerman.


**Daze (n.): To be in a state of confusion**

Armin Arlert was currently walking around the Survey Corps. Headquarters, **depressed**. Not too long ago was Annie Leonhart 'captured'. (If you could even call it that.) She crystallized herself before they were able to obtain any answers. Not to mention all the questions that arose because of her. Then there was, of course, Eren. _Eren Jeager_. His childhood friend.

Eren had to let go of most of his sanity in order to fight Annie. But even then, that had failed. Armin sighed. Thinking about it wasn't going to improve his mood. (Though it wasn't like he could stop.) Shaking his head, Armin looked up and blinked. He was in front of the library. It'd seem while he was lost in thought, his feet had taken him there.

Armin smiled. Reading might just take his mind off of things. Though his smile soon vanished once he saw another person in the room. It was Mikasa's older brother; Dovah **(Dough-Vah)** Ackerman. Apart from not being able to be alone (like he wanted) Armin just happened to run into the one person that seemed to hate him. Awesome. You see despite Dovah being Mikasa's brother, Armin didn't know him all too well. (Not that he cared to find out.)

It didn't help that, at age 23, Dovah was eight years older than the blonde. From what Armin had observed, Dovah was a cold person; to the point of being called heartless by others. Even to Mikasa and Eren (people he 'tolerated') he was distant towards. That was more than enough to make him second guess his decision. In the end, Armin's desperate need for literature won out.

_"If I'm quiet enough, maybe I can go in and out before he notices,"_ The young genius hoped.

Unfortunately as soon as he took one step inside, Dovah's head snapped up. His usual stoic face morphed to that of mild irritation. How nice.

_"So much for that plan_," Armin dryly thought.

"Leave," Dovah commanded.

"Why should I?" Armin calmly shot back.

He really wasn't in the mood for this. Dovah merely scoffed and rolled his eyes. Going back to reading his book, Dovah ignored the boy by the doorway. Taking that as a sign to come in, Armin pulled a book from a nearby shelf and took a seat across the apathetic youth. Instead of reading, Armin found himself staring at the older boy. (Most likely because this would be the only chance he could get a real good look.) He saw that Dovah had short jet-black hair and, like Mikasa, pale, snow white skin. He was about 5 foot 8; two inches taller than Eren.

The there were the more obvious features that distinguished Dovah from the rest. Like his bandaged right eye, and his pale blue left one. Or his feminine-like body. (Something Dovah hated about himself.) Or his-

"Draw a portrait. It'll last longer," Dovah commented, eye never leaving his book.

Armin couldn't help but blush. He hadn't _meant_ to stare for so long. It was completely unintentional. Really it _was_! Sighing, Armin opened the book he held; before he could begin reading, Armin could've sworn he heard Dovah mutter something like, 'Zi rao*'.

Knowing it was most likely an insult, Armin just took a deep breath and focused on reading. Slowly, despite the tense atmosphere, Armin was able to lose himself in it. His eyes greedily absorbed the text. His mind set the scene and ran the story like a play; a play only he could see.

"How is Eren?" A light, boy's voice interrupted him.

It really shouldn't have surprised Armin that the voice has belonged to Dovah. They _were_ the only people on the room after all. But it did. Thankfully, he was able to recover before the pale man noticed. (Not that he would care if he did.)

"Considering what's happened, he's fine," Armin politely answered.

Dovah nodded; almost as an afterthought he added, " That's good news. After what he did, I was expecting worse."

Armin couldn't help but let out a small, sarcastic smile.

"_After almost turning into a complete **monster** you mean_," He thought coldly.

"Shut up," Dovah snapped suddenly.

"I haven't said anything," Armin deadpanned. "I was just-"

"Thinking, and it's _annoying_," Dovah rudely cut off.

Armin felt himself twitch. He once read about how there was around four million nerves in the human body. What the book _failed_ to mention was that it took _**one**_ person to set off every single one of them.

"Well? Just what is _so_ important that you must disrupt me?" Dovah questioned, face passive.

"It's not important," Armin said.

"Obviously it is. Why else would I have bothered to ask?" Dovah countered.

"Even if it is, I have no reason to tell someone like _you._ Besides it's not like you care either way," The genius retorted, _ice_ clear in his words.

"_Exactly_. It's because I _don't_ care that you can tell me. I won't _care_ enough to judge your idiocy," The raven-head dryly clarified.

_Shockingly enough_, Armin was still _not_ convinced. He narrowed his eyes at the youth across.

"_Just **why** does Dovah want to know what's bothering me so badly?_" The blonde wondered.

"Have it your way. If you are going to be like that, then _leave_. You've distracted me too much and my patience is thinning," Dovah threatened, now glaring at Armin.

Sighing, Armin gave in.

"Fine," He said. "Why not?"

He opened his mouth to speak...but...no words came out. How was he supposed to explain how he felt to another person? Let alone someone like _Dovah_.

"Any day now would be fine," Said man just happened to comment.

Armin slowly took a breath.

"I...can't decide...what to do about Eren," He finally revealed. "In order to win this war, we will have to give up _many_ things. Eren is our last hope. Many people have sacrificed their lives for him. But, for me, would having him lose his humanity be worth it? Would losing my best friend be worth? Logically I know it's something that can't be helped...but Eren is still my friend. I can't help but be selfish and try and find some sort of loophole."

As Armin finished, he held a conflicted look on his face. His hands were now clenched on his lap; his book forgotten long ago. Dovah on the other hand had a cool expression on.

Once he spoke, he only said, "**Shangdi**"

"Shangdi?"Armin repeated.

"It means God." Dovah said. "If anyone could help Eren, it's Him."

Armin scoffed.

"Seeing as 'God' hasn't helped us in _centuries_, I fail to see how," He bluntly stated.

"Oh really?"Dovah asked in amusement, as he placed his book down and gave Armin his full attention. "So you're telling me that a **Titan-shifter **just so _happens_ to be childhood friends with a **prodigy** and a **strategist**? Friends that are _extremely_ loyal to him?"

Armin had to admit, in a way Dovah did have a point. But was it just luck? Or did...Armin shook his head. This wasn't helping. Then again he hadn't _asked_ for help; he just wanted to read.

"Let's not forget that he also just happens to have a _major_ vendetta against those beasts and is willing to do just about _anything_ to kill every last one of them," Dovah continued. "There's also-"

"Okay! I get it. We've experienced many improbable possibilities. But how is this relevant?" The small boy interrupted, clearly growing impatient.

Dovah smirked.

"And here I was under the impression that you were _actually_ smart," He taunted.

With an exaggerated sigh, the young sociopa-I mean the young **man** began to 'patiently' explain.

"Listen up! I'm only going to explain this **once**. Unlike you, I'm not an idiot. Don't look so offended, I call everyone that. Nevertheless, I'll try to simplify as much as I can. What I am saying is that there are _countless_ possibilities. What if Eren trips and falls into a coma? Or he hits his head and loses his memories?

There's no point in listing all of them out. **Even** then only God could see _every_ single one. We can't change that. Whether He acts upon a favorable outcome is also out of our hands. There's no use in worrying about something that may or may not happen. Focus on _now_. Something that actually _does_ matter.

Staying in the past won't help either. No matter how much you want to change something you can't what's done is done. And even if by some miracle you could, what if you ended up making things worse? Thinking like this is pointless and distracting. Do you understand?" Dovah said.

Pondering on Dovah's words, Armin was speechless.

"_I guess...maybe...he's right_," Armin thought.

Dovah got up and walked over to Armin. Standing in front of him, he lightly smacked Armin's head.

"Honestly, you think too much. Even after I took the time to explain. Just how foolish can you be?"

Before he could make a a clever remark, Armin felt a soft pair of lips on his forehead. It was Dovah. _Dovah_ was _**kissing**_ his forehead. Armin felt his cheeks slowly heat up.

Stepping back, Dovah muttered, "**_Yexu xingfu yu ni tong zai*."_**

Beyond _shocked_ would've been an understatement. Who wouldn't have been? Here you have this guy who _supposedly_ **hated** you, **kissing** your forehead and muttering something in a foreign language. Confusing right?

"Why did-"

"Don't flatter yourself, it was just a charm," Dovah said as he walked towards the exit.

Just as he reached the door, he turned towards Armin and said, "Oh, and by the way, I don't _hate_ you...I just...find you less _tolerable_ than most people."

Leaving a bewildered Armin behind, Dovah walked out of the library.

**}}}}}}}Line Break{{{{{{{**

Dovah walked through the halls, searching for Eren's room. He had to make sure that the kid was alright with his own eye. If he died, how was Dovah supposed to pay off his debt? His thoughts soon turned to a particular blonde cadet. A scowl made its way to his face.

"_What on Earth was I thinking?_" Dovah thought, but then scoffed.

"Oh right. I wasn't," He mumbled to no-one.

Lovely. Not only was he talking to himself, but he was also kissing people on impulse. This day just kept getting better and better, didn't it? The raven-head rubbed his blue eye that sparkled with irritation. He dismissed the strange rush he had felt when he saw Armin's flushed face. Or how fun it was to tease him. Thoughts such as those were useless, irrational. Right?

Dovah remembered something strange. When Armin had first entered the library, his troubled expression had caused a pang of annoyance in Dovah's heart. It was odd how whenever the small boy was involved, one way or another Dovah acted out of character. Dovah huffed. Hadn't he said not to dwell on such things just moments ago? He was acting like a small, hypocritical child. The frustrated young man stopped on front of a door.

If his sister was right, then this should be Eren's room. Placing his right hand on the doorknob, Dovah unconsciously scanned for the young cadet. Bringing his left hand up to his lips, Dovah couldn't help but look back on what had happened just a few minutes ago. Maybe these strange and foreign feelings weren't _all_ that bad. Shaking his head, the young black-haired boy put his hand down.

"**Who's being the foolish one now**?" He though

But in his hand's place was a small, barely noticeable, genuine _smile_. With on last glance around, Dovah opened the door.

**The End**

**/|||||||\\\\\**

***Zi rao (Chinese)= Nuisance; Bothersome**

***Yexu xingfu yu ni tong zai (Chinese)= May happiness be with you**

**(Sorry if the translations are off I tried my best)**

**Authors Note:**

**Merry Christmas! Hope you all enjoyed this little one-shot I wrote up. I tried keeping Armin in character so let me know your thoughts on him. As for CaptainExe hoped you liked your request! Did I keep Dovah in character? I sort of used Sherlock as a base for his character. Anyways Happy Hanukah! If anyone wants me to do a request for them (be it their OC or a reader-insert) Just P.M. me and we'll talk. Also this was my first time writing romance so I'd like your guys' feedback on that too. Merry Christmas!**


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